Just pulled the trigger Shapeoko XXL CNC Router Kit What spindle upgrade to consider?

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Hi @Andy_MM,

Thanks for the details. To find out what’s wrong I recommend doing two things, in that order:

  1. disconnect the PWM signal from the VFD, and use a voltmeter to check voltage at the output of the Shapeoko controller:
  • when you turn on the Shapeoko, the voltage should be close to zero volts.
  • double check you have $30=24000 and $31=0
  • Home the machine and then send “M3S12000” (without the quotes) using the MDI tab: you should now read around 2.5V on the PWM output (measure at the leads you just unconnected from the VFD)
    • you can also check that you read close to 5V if you send “M3S24000”
  • If you don’t read 2.5V, then there is something wrong in the wiring of the PWM. There are three places where you can get the PWM signal on a 2.4e controller board (check out this chapter of the ebook), so you may want to try an alternate from what you are currently using. I have been known to mess up solder joints really bad, it can happen.
  1. Once you have verified that the PWM signal is properly generated by the Shapeoko controller, proceed to debug the VFD setup. We had a similar case a few months ago of someone who had the spindle starting upon power-up regardless of the PWM, and it turned out to be something wrong in the VFD parameters (it almost always is…but there are so many of them that it’s not so easy to figure it out). I would recommend to make a note of your current settings (all of them…tedious, I know), and then proceed to do a factory reset (on my Huanyang VFD this is done by setting PD013 to “8”), and then re-apply your changes, this way you’ll be sure what they are at the moment you do the test. If you still have manual control of the RPM from the dial knob on the VFD, then something is not setup correctly to have the VFD use the PWM as the input signal (it usually boils down to setting PD001 and PD002 to 1, but since you followed the Huanyang VFD params thread I created you will already have done that)

I know it’s a bit maddening when you think you have it set exactly like it should be, but if you are anything like me then it could be a misfit parameter that was altered during one of your tests, and not reset to a proper value. That of the VR/VI jumper, but you already checked that so that’s not it.

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